Self-Seeding Hollyhocks Are Easy To Propagate From Seed: Just Follow These Steps
Elizabeth is a Permaculture Garden Designer, Sustainability Consultant and Professional Writer, working as an advocate for positive change. She graduated from the University of St. Andrews with an MA in English and Philosophy and obtained a Diploma in Applied Permaculture Design from the Permaculture Association.
Reviewed By DAN ORI
Dan has over 27 years’ under his belt caring for plants and gardens. Working as a Horticultural Instructor and Consultant, he draws on a diverse range of experience that includes working as a Head Gardener, Tree Surgeon, Garden Centre Trouble Shooter, and writer of academic papers. Dan has a Level 3 Diploma in Horticulture and is currently a candidate for the RHS’s most prestigious award – The Master of Horticulture.
IN THIS GUIDE
Hollyhocks are cottage garden favourites that can add height and drama to mixed borders, brightening up your beds with their cheerful, blousy blooms.
They are short-lived perennials, but due to fungal problems, hollyhocks are often best treated as biennials.
Hollyhocks are relatively easy to grow yourself from seed and, in many UK gardens in a suitable spot, will self-seed readily.
To grow hollyhocks from seed, you can either sow seeds indoors between April and May or sow outside directly where they are to grow in May or June.
To propagate hollyhocks from seed:
- Prepare a sowing area indoors, with a seed tray filled with seed-starting compost.
- Sow the hollyhock seeds.
- Prick out and pot on hollyhock seedlings when they are large enough to handle.
- Harden off and plant out indoor-sown hollyhocks in June.
Read on for more detail on the methods that you might employ in your garden.
| Difficulty | Easy |
| Equipment Required | Seeds, pots or trays, growing medium, heated propagator (optional) |
| When To Sow | April to May |
| When To Plant Out | June |
When To Sow Hollyhocks
Hollyhock seeds can either be sown indoors in April or May or directly sown where you will grow them in your garden in May or June.
Though the former option has more stages to it and involves a little more work, it is generally the best option in the UK, as directly sowing seeds often means losses to pests like slugs and snails.
That said, if you have lighter soils and can provide the optimal conditions, sowing outside directly can work just fine.
1) Prepare An Area For Sowing Indoors
If you decide to sow hollyhocks indoors, then you can do so in seed trays or modules on a sunny windowsill.
However, you will find that germination rates are better if you can keep temperatures consistent and between 16-21°C until the seedlings emerge.
With a heated propagator, germination will typically be a little quicker, but this is not essential for these plants to grow successfully from seed.
Prepare your area for seed sowing, making sure that you have your seed flats, seed trays or other containers in place, filling them with a suitable peat-free, seed-starting compost.
2) Sow Your Hollyhock Seeds
Place the hollyhock seeds on the surface of the moist but well-drained growing medium.
Cover them over lightly with a little more of the same medium.
3) Prick Out & Pot On
Once the seeds germinate and the seedlings begin to grow, prick out each seedling and pot it up into its own individual pot.
Then, leave the seedlings to grow until it is time to transplant them into your garden.
4) Plant Out The Hollyhock Seedlings
In late May or early June, begin the process of hardening off your indoor-sown hollyhock seedlings to acclimatise them to outdoor growing conditions.
When the time comes, select a suitable spot for planting, then plant your seedlings in the garden once the weather has warmed reliably, which is typically in June.
Sowing Hollyhocks Outdoors
Alternatively, if you prefer, you can select a suitable spot in your garden and directly sow your hollyhock seeds so that they will germinate in the same location where they will then continue to grow.
Sow in holes or drills, aiming for an eventual spacing of around 60cm between each of your hollyhock plants.
Remember, when growing hollyhocks from seed, not all will come true to their parent plant.
Hollyhocks will not bloom in their first, but rather in their second year.
Though some can self-seed readily in the right location, you will need to sow seeds over two years to make sure that you have hollyhock blooms in your garden annually over the years to come.
Gardening expert Dan Ori explains how he uses a simple approach to sowing hollyhocks outside in autumn:
“As hollyhocks survive the winter in the UK and can self-seed, I encourage this process during autumn border maintenance.
“Around early autumn the seed-heads on hollyhocks turn brown, as I weed and cut back perennials in my borders I brake and shake the seed-heads on to the freshly weeded ground, I then mulch the borders and let the seeds do the rest.”
